Related Stories

DELAWARE COUNTY, PA (WTXF) - A group of third graders in Delaware County are learning a special lesson.

As FOX 29's photojournalist Bill Rohrer shows us, chickens are addin

It cannot be easy keeping the attention of this third grade class at Friends School in Haverford for very long.

But Teacher Jennifer Nates has help from a few feathery friends.

She got the idea to bring hens into the classroom, when the Head of School wanted each grade level to have a signature lesson.

Jennifer is teaching the kids about the history of farming and how people in the world get their food.

"When the chicks are here is very much an attention grabber," Nates explained, "I will see kids not in my class just hanging around looking at them. There is a relaxing quality in having an animal around."

Each student has a job they need to finish each day. You can image the one nobody wants to do; cleaning the cage.

Most kids however, love collecting the eggs.

"There is that moment where they get to take an egg out of the roost and they realize they didn’t take it from the carton. There is actually an animal that produces that food item," Nates said.

The eggs are then cleaned and dated for sale.

The money is then used to buy chicks for Heifer International, an organization helping families all over the world with donated livestock.

Back in the classroom, the impact the hens have maybe a little overwhelming. For right now, however, keeping a random ball from hitting the coop is at the top of their list.